NDDC Moved To Regional Development Ministry, Not Scrapped — Momoh

The Minister of the newly established Ministry of Regional Development, Engr Abubakar Momoh, has clarified that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) remains intact and has not been scrapped.

Momoh explained that the Ministry of Niger Delta Development has merely been renamed and given expanded responsibilities under the newly created Ministry of Regional Development.

Recall a statement issued by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga earlier on Wednesday said, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at a meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu, scrapped the Ministries of Niger Delta Development and Sports Development.

The FEC also approved the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy.

Onanuga said, “There will now be a ministry of regional development to oversee all the regional development commissions, such as Niger Delta Development Commission, North West Development Commission, South West Development Commission, North East Development Commission.

“The National Sports Commission will take over the role of the Ministry of Sports.”

Against reports elsewhere that the NDDC was scrapped Momoh clarified that FEC did not and urged the people in the Niger Delta to remain calm.

“For our people in the Niger Delta region, I want to assure them that nothing has been taken away. The NDDC is still very much in place, now under the Ministry of Regional Development, along with other regional agencies. It’s simply a change in nomenclature,” Momoh said.

He further urged the Niger Delta community not to feel concerned that the Ministry of Niger Delta has been abolished.

“All the structures and activities related to the Niger Delta remain unchanged.

“It’s just a renaming and an expansion of the ministry’s activities, which I believe is something to be commended,” Momoh added.